Spoiler alert: This post contains a story from episode 5 of Imperfect Women, now streaming on Apple TV.
There’s a lot to learn about Kate Mara’s Nancy Hennessy in Imperfect Women.
The case of the Pasadena socialite whose murder sparked AppleTV’s mystery thriller is difficult to solve. Growing up in a trailer park in Bakersfield, Nancy leads a difficult and complicated life that the audience only glimpses of, eventually marrying the rich and wealthy Robert (Joel Kinnaman). Told through the perspective of her best friend Eleanor (Kerry Washington), the first three episodes of “Imperfect Women” reveal that Nancy has been having an affair with a mysterious man named David.
With both the police and Nancy’s friends believing that her lover is responsible for her murder, David’s identity appears to be revealed in episode 4 when a bartender with the same name begins flirting with Nancy at a New Year’s party at a Pasadena mansion. But when she turns him down, viewers are back to square one, with Howard (Corey Stoll), the husband of her other best friend Mary (Elisabeth Moss), being called “David” as part of an inside joke in the episode’s final moments.
Nancy faces a series of blows in episode four. She has a less-than-ideal relationship with her husband, her husband’s father, and her daughter, and she slaps her daughter in front of everyone at the party. Nancy rushes out in frustration, and Mary and Eleanor follow. She is haunted by traumatic childhood memories, including being repeatedly assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend and being blamed by her mother for crashing the car they were riding in as punishment. She attempts to apologize to her daughter Cora (Audrey Zahn), but is shut out by both her and Robert, and eventually notices what appears to be divorce papers on his laptop.
In episode 5, with the impending divorce on her mind, Nancy begins working on a production of “Ariadne” at the Los Angeles Metro Ballet, where she kindly offers the unemployed Howard a job as an academic consultant. Howard and Nancy spend their days together and develop a friendship that develops into an affair after a drunken night celebrating the end of the show.
Later, Nancy finally discovers why Robert has been estranged for months. He tells her it’s because he lost a lot of money in a bad business deal and that they should probably separate to protect her from financial loss. Nancy is overwhelmed with relief and assures him that she loves him and doesn’t care about money. (“Your money didn’t save me. I’ve been living without your love for three months now. I’m a complete mess,” she cries.) The two are reunited and arrive on the opening night of Ariadne. So Nancy calls off her relationship with Howard, despite his strong protests, and returns home satisfied. That was until Robert found out she was cheating on him, thanks to Howard anonymously sending him illicit photos of her. In the final scene of the episode, Nancy flees in her car after Robert lashes out in a violent tirade.
Below, Mara talks to Variety about Nancy’s past trauma, her character’s relationship with Robert, and why they started the affair in the first place.
Provided by Apple TV
For obvious reasons, Nancy has no scenes in the current storyline and appears primarily through flashbacks. How did you approach portraying Eleanor, as the audience initially experiences her primarily through her eyes?
I didn’t approach her any differently than I would a living character. I’m playing her when she’s alive, so it’s just a different era. Most of the show is from different eras, even the other characters. It’s not just Nancy that appears in the flashbacks, it’s everyone.
She is in a vulnerable position. She is preparing for divorce and thinks it is close. How does that add to the pressure to succeed at work and create your own life?
I think everything in Nancy’s life is under some level of anxiety and pressure. Her relationship with her daughter, and with her husband, is definitely complicated. I think she’s really trying to get her career off the ground, but she doesn’t have support from her loved ones and is in an overall pressure situation. And all of that leads to the decision she ultimately makes.
Nancy grew up as a ballerina and says ballet could be an inspiration for her as an adult. Will being in such an atmosphere every day make her mental state even worse?
What’s interesting about this scenario for Nancy is that when she returns to ballet as an adult and hasn’t participated in ballet in 20-odd years, it’s very scary for her. But it’s also really exhilarating. Because what she did for a long time was what she loved. As an actor, I really enjoy playing this role because it’s a very complex role. It’s not just one thing. She loves it, but it’s also very uncomfortable. Because it brings up so many emotions and thoughts about her past, things that she’s still trying to deal with.
The language Nancy uses when talking about past trauma is interesting. In episode 5, she seems to be wooing her mother’s boyfriend and taking responsibility for the whole situation. Does her unresolved trauma influence her decisions in the present, and how did you choose your approach to depicting it?
I decided to work on it as written. Fortunately, everything was very clear and I didn’t have to fill in the blanks, so it was more helpful from an acting standpoint. But I think all of her past experiences, traumas, and relationships have completely influenced her decisions, her relationships, her relationship dynamics, and the people she chooses to love and the people she chooses to hide from, just like they would affect anyone in real life. Indeed, it speaks perfectly about her present and who she is as an adult.
Did you read the book before joining the project?
I read the book because I was offered this project. This book was actually a big reason why I got the role because it was available to me when there was no script. Because I didn’t get to read all of Nancy’s episodes, so it was hard for me to know where my character was going. But this book is clearly very clearly written and I found it very helpful in that regard.
What did you think of the book and Howard’s reveal at the end of episode 4?
I thought it was a really nice surprise. I think it’s because there are so many moments like that that the show is so fun to watch and the book is so fun to read. Because it keeps you guessing and keeps your thoughts really changing from chapter to chapter and episode to episode over a period of time.
Something is brewing between Nancy and Howard, and there’s a vibe between them that’s obvious to the audience – maybe in hindsight. Will Nancy notice it? Does she want to stop it before it becomes an affair?
I think she’s probably lying to herself or in denial because she doesn’t want to believe it. There’s not much she can do to stop it before it starts. what is she going to do? Would you like to stop talking to him? Once the affair begins, obviously there are a lot of moments where she could have done the right thing or made a different choice, but she’s in a very negative state and just has a lot of other things going on with her husband and family.
Is that why she doesn’t end the affair either? She clearly shows immense guilt over this situation, especially since he is her best friend’s husband.
Oh my god. There are so many reasons why a character, or any character, cheats that you can’t pinpoint it to just one thing. That’s why learning about her and everything that goes on behind closed doors gives us a glimpse into why she’s in that place in her heart. I don’t think there is one specific thing. I think a lot of things have come together to get me to where I am now.
She obviously doesn’t want people to know they’re together, but she brings him to this party where they can be seen together, which seems a little weird.
Good for the show! For the story! The more she continues this affair, and the more dangerous it becomes, the more she feels like her old self. And that’s what intoxicates her and brings her there. There are a lot of things she hasn’t rested on yet and hasn’t dealt with in a realistic way. She relives this place full of danger and self-loathing.
She also reaches out to Scott, her mother’s old boyfriend, in what feels like another decision born out of self-loathing.
I thought it was a very brave thing to do what she wanted and to stand up to someone who has hurt you so deeply and betrayed so much trust. There were a lot of power relationships there, and there was really a lot of abuse of power in those relationships.
I wanted to ask you about cola. There’s a big fight in episode 4, but she doesn’t appear in episode 5. Have you decided in your mind what their relationship will be like off-screen in the last few months?
I don’t really remember what the backstory I told myself was, but I think it was just hard. We see from Cora’s character what her relationship experiences were like leading up to Nancy’s death. It certainly wasn’t a good situation.
Robert has an alcohol problem, which is featured throughout the show, and at the end of episode 5, he violently explodes when he learns of Nancy’s affair. Do you think he was ever violent towards her?
i don’t think so. She doesn’t know if it’s on the show or not, but she says she’s never experienced anything like that before. I’m not completely sure.
At the end of episode 5, she finds out about all the money issues and Robert is very shocked that she doesn’t care about money. Why do you think that is? I feel like there are many things we don’t know about each other.
I think there’s a lot of things about the show that people don’t know, and I think that’s what makes it fun. All the characters think they are best friends, but they don’t know that XYZ is married, or (what else). I think a lot of human nature is that even the closest people don’t share everything.
However, when it comes to Robert, he feels very insecure about his position, his family, and what wealth means to those around him. He is very defined by his wealth, and I think that’s why she feels a lot of empathy for him when she finds out all of the money problems he has with his family. She kind of melts into him after learning all of that because she really, really loves him. And the misunderstanding there is actually what pulls them into this horrible trajectory, which really didn’t need to happen if there was honesty there.
Robert and Eleanor’s dynamic was a pretty big part of Eleanor’s perspective in the first three episodes, but it doesn’t come up much in Nancy’s episode. Do you think she ever actually put a strain on their marriage?
i don’t think so. I think Nancy was very confident in their marriage until she saw that email (about the divorce papers). I think she and Eleanor have a very deep relationship and she trusts Eleanor with her life. Even if she knew there was a history or feelings like this, I don’t think she would ever worry that anything happened. Again, that’s one of the reasons this story is so fun. These different perspectives, something can become very intense and real to another person, and then someone very close to you in life has a completely different experience of what’s going on.
After all, the trio’s friendship is the focus of the show, with Mary and Eleanor fighting very hard to get justice for Nancy’s murder.
I think she would do the same. It’s not necessarily a surprise, but I almost think it’s expected in their friendship. They are deeply involved in each other’s lives and are like family, for better or for worse. They are a chosen family. So, in a sense, I think that’s what she expects.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
